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Interaction Between the Parenting Alliance and Parent–Child Activities in a Clinic-Referred Sample of 2 to 18-year-olds

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Abstract

Several decades of research have demonstrated a link between marital, parenting, and child domains. The present study examined the nature of these links by testing the moderating effect of the parent–child relationship on the association between the parenting alliance and internalizing and externalizing problems in 324 dual-parent families of 2-to-18-year-old clinic-referred youth. Findings indicated that positive parent–child activities directly related to children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, and modified the nature of the association between the parenting alliance and internalizing problems in families of 6-to-10-year-olds. Interestingly, in families where parents engaged in fewer positive activities with their children, a strong parenting alliance actually related to greater child internalizing problems. Findings support the importance of understanding the interaction between the marital and child domains in order to effectively intervene with families of children experiencing behavior problems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, PA, 19437, USA

    Rebecca Lakin Gullan

  2. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA

    Michelle LeRoy & Annette Mahoney

  3. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA

    Paul Boxer

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  1. Rebecca Lakin Gullan
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  2. Michelle LeRoy
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  3. Paul Boxer
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  4. Annette Mahoney
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Correspondence to Rebecca Lakin Gullan.

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Gullan, R.L., LeRoy, M., Boxer, P. et al. Interaction Between the Parenting Alliance and Parent–Child Activities in a Clinic-Referred Sample of 2 to 18-year-olds. J Child Fam Stud 23, 303–311 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9697-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9697-7

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